The Amelioration Projecthttps://www.theameliorationproject.site
or how I'm working to improve my life!Wed, 19 Jul 2017 19:37:55 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.1Another Shaded Early Morning Runhttps://www.theameliorationproject.site/2017/07/19/another-shaded-early-morning-run/
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 19:37:55 +0000https://www.theameliorationproject.site/?p=39621A Struggling 3.25 Mile Run is Better Than No Run – July 19, 2017 As I sit here now (12:19 pm) I see that the current temperature is 90 degrees and it’s very, very sunny. So I know that I...Read more

As I sit here now (12:19 pm) I see that the current temperature is 90 degrees and it’s very, very sunny. So I know that I made the right decision about running this morning. But it was a bit of a struggle to get out the door. The whiny, heat hating me said, “But it’s still going to be hot running, even though it’s 75 now. You know the sun is going to be hot!” The good me said “I know that so what I’m going to do is once again alter my course a little more to get a few more blocks of shade into the run!” The whiny me said “Okay you win!”

The Run….

So out the door I went with a slightly altered course that offered a little more shade than my last run. The course I had laid out was a four-mile, but I didn’t care if I made the whole four miles. I was ok through the first two miles, completing them both in 10:51. Then the wheels fell off the bus, and the sweat was pouring from my body! And that put my distance at whatever it was when I got back to my house. The course I had laid out, had a run around the park, and some more, to make it a full 4 mile run . I knew that wasn’t happening!

Without the extra distance the course ended up being 3.25 miles. which I finished in 36:01. My average average pace per mile was 11 minutes and 4 seconds. Typically, I would have tried to sprint to get my pace back under 11 minute per mile pace. But that was not the case today. What do they say “Discretion is the Better Part of Valor” I will live to run another day!

I decided that, like the other day, I would walk another 0.75 miles to make the total run/walk 4 miles. It wasn’t tpp long into my walk around Spring Garden Park that I stopped an said “Whoa!”

One of the largest and oldest trees in the park had been reduced to a stump!

Anyone care to count the rings?? I bet there’s close to 150 or so. The tree is probably as ol as the park!

The Soundtrack for the Run Anu]bis – The Second Hand

Anu]bis is a Neo Prog progressive rock band from Australia. You can read about the album here at ProgArchives The band’s album Behind Our Eyes (Live 2014) was the soundtrack of a previous run. So I think it’s time for a review at FreeWheelin’ Music Safari.

]]>Third Run of the Week Puts Weekly Mileage Over Ten Miles!https://www.theameliorationproject.site/2017/07/16/third-run-week-puts-weekly-mileage-ten-miles/
Sun, 16 Jul 2017 15:56:11 +0000https://www.theameliorationproject.site/?p=39615July 15 – Three Runs in One Week! Yeah Me! Life’s Little Victories! The Run Ah, this morning temperatures were in the low 70s and it was cloudy a good morning for a run. And it was,but there was one...Read more

The Run

Ah, this morning temperatures were in the low 70s and it was cloudy a good morning for a run. And it was,but there was one thing that I forgot! That one thing was that the relative humidity was relatively high! That for someone like me who sweats at the drop of a heat is not a good thing. My first thoughts about the run were that I would run my most hilly four mile run. But that thought went out the window after the first mile. May second, thought was maybe I’d run my four mile Creek out and back 4 mile run.

As I got hotter and hotter that run did not appeal to me. So I finally, settled on my 3.1 loop that includes the out part of the Creek Out and Back run. But instead of turning around at the 2 mile mark I just keep going straight and loop around and come back home. As I ran down along the Rancocas Creek I thought maybe I would alter the run a little and make it a four mile loop.

Point of run going uphill the building on left is the Watchcase Bldg where I work for like 25 years!

Then I hit the slight hill at the railroad tracks and as I struggled up that hill I thought the hell with it lets just get a 3.1 plus mile in today! The final length of the run turned out to be 3.30 miles as I ran just a little past our house.

Post-Run Walk

When I finished I started my usual cool-down walk around the block. I got a little past halfway around the block, when I thought about increasing the length of my walk. It would only take .70 of mile to make the overall workout four miles. Then I thought how about I go down to the high school track and see how accurate the GPS is on a walk around the track. The answer was pretty much dead on. When I started around the track I was at .52 miles and at the end of the lap .77, which makes one lap .25 miles!

I momentarily contemplated running some intervals. However, on the walk to the track I couldn’t see because of the sweat in my eyes. I could just see it. Well maybe not! I figured on the quarter lap after a full lap, I i would be blind! Anyway, I’ll save intervals for another day or night!

So the question of the day what’s worse : Sunny and low humidity or cloudy and high humidity. My vote goes to the later. Any thoughts?

Soundtrack of the Run: Behind Our Eyes (Live 2014) from the Prog Rock band Anu]bis.

Here’s a Track from the Album. And once again I will try to write about the album later to day……

Featured Image: looking down Bridgeboro Street at the point where i cross it. Many times when I run down this street I think that the first time I ran down this street was as a member of the Burlington City Cross Country team in either 1968 or 1969? So I’ve almost been running down this road for 50 years! Oh My!

]]>A Three – Mile Morning Run Because It’s Hot and I’m Old!https://www.theameliorationproject.site/2017/07/12/three-mile-morning-run-hot-im-old/
Wed, 12 Jul 2017 18:33:44 +0000https://www.theameliorationproject.site/?p=39608July 12 th – A Three – Mile Morning Run Because It’s Hot and I’m Old! Ok so this morning when I checked the weather it was sunny and almost 80 degrees. The forecast is that temperatures will climb...Read more

]]>July 12 th – A Three – Mile Morning Run Because It’s Hot and I’m Old!

Ok so this morning when I checked the weather it was sunny and almost 80 degrees. The forecast is that temperatures will climb into the low 90s today. It would not have taken much to convince myself not to run! But I fought the impulse to do that. Rather I decided that the best idea was to shorten my run to around three miles. Additionally, I decided to plot out a course that would maximize shade! The final thing I needed to do was to tell myself to take it easy!

The Run

So with all that in mind I set out.The first half-mile was fairly easy some clouds blocked the direct sunlight so it wasn’t too hot. By the time the sun did come out I was almost to shade. I reached that shade just a little before the first mile mark. I reached that Mile mark at 11:03 into the run.. Ah, shade and I was almost to the high point of the run. I reached that high point in another few minutes

Photo 1 – Going Up Oak Towards that Shade!

Photo 2 – The Shade Along Moreland Ave. Heading towards the Highpoint along Fairview St.

Ah, now it was downhill in the shade for most of the decent. I was in and out of the sun for the second half of that mile. Again I had planned the course to maximize the shade and it worked. I ran the second mile in 10:39. Again most of it was downhill.

Photo 3 – Along the downhill on Pancoast Ave.

Now all I had to do was make it through the last mile. Most of that mile was in the sun. Luckily I convinced myself that I could go slow and no one would care!

When I was heading into the last stretch of the run I noticed my overall pace was just a little over 11 minutes per mile so I mustered what Speed I could get and I finished at 11 minute per mile pace. The time for the last mile was 11:28 but my sprint pace at least for .1 miles was 9:37.

When I finished the run my heart rate was 165, but within four minutes of walking around the block it was down to 116.

The Post Run Walk

As I walked and cooled down, I thought why don’t I try to stay in the shade and try to walk for a mile. I walked in the shadows at the school for a bit and the around the Spring Garden park and made the mile. Because my heart rate was still over 100 it was a good fat-burning walk!!

]]>July’s First Run – Not Great But Every Run Helps!https://www.theameliorationproject.site/2017/07/09/julys-first-run-not-great-every-run-helps/
Sun, 09 Jul 2017 17:39:00 +0000https://www.theameliorationproject.site/?p=39598Today’s Run : July 9, 2017 – Four Miles – a struggle over the last mile The temperature was right around seventy degrees this morning so I decided it was a good day for a run. Looking back at...Read more

]]>Today’s Run : July 9, 2017 – Four Miles – a struggle over the last mile

The temperature was right around seventy degrees this morning so I decided it was a good day for a run. Looking back at my posts,I see that the last run I wrote about was way back on June 8th. Just because I haven’t posted, doesn’t mean I haven’t been running. While I haven’t been running as much as I should, I did run four more times in June Here are the results….

While you may not realize it, three of those four runs were on a Thursday – June 15,22, and 29! The reason is simple, it’s my day off from babysitting and Target.

The last two runs were both four mile runs and that’s a good thing. Now all I need to do is get another weekday run in and then a longer weekend run! Ha!

Today’s Run Prep

As I said at the start of this post the temperature this Morning was relatively cool (70 degrees). The only bad thing was that it is also very sunny! On days like today, I try to plan my run so that it has a good amount of shade in it. The bad thing about that is that the most heavily wooded area in town is also the area at the highest elevation . Which means it’s uphill to get there!

The Run…

Anyway I took off telling myself to take it easy because there will be a hill coming. So I was buzzing along feeling pretty good like I could keep this pace up for the whole run But when I finished the first mile in 10:25 I began to worry. At the 1.5 mile mark my pace had dropped to 10:38 (mid-way up that hill) and by the time I was at the top of the hill and heading toward the second mile mark my pace had dropped to 10:53! Finally I made the turn and headed back to the hill, but this time I was going down hill so I got to recover a little but the rest of the run after my descent was a struggle! My only thought was I don’t care about time just let me finish – which I did!

The Splits

The Results

Overall, I am going to rate today’s as a B – The first mile gets an A and the last a C The to middle miles a B. So that’s the average which is fine by me! AndI just need to remember each run makes me a little better than before!!

The Soundtrack for the run was Erosion the latest from the Prog Rock band Cydemind. I will be reviewing the album in a bit at FreeWheelin’ Music SafarI

]]>My Morning Workout – July 2 & 3 2017https://www.theameliorationproject.site/2017/07/03/my-morning-workouts-july-23-2017/
Mon, 03 Jul 2017 15:26:44 +0000https://www.theameliorationproject.site/?p=39571My Morning Workouts – July 2 and 3 2017 We went to the Jersey shore yesterday for a small family gathering ( no beach) Just the way I like it! Anyway as a result I didn’t get to run. I...Read more

We went to the Jersey shore yesterday for a small family gathering ( no beach) Just the way I like it! Anyway as a result I didn’t get to run. I did get in an abbreviated morning workout though. I did the first twenty two minutes of my 60 minute workout. The routine included a 4 minutes dance cardio warm up and a tabata routine was made up of….

14 – Two rounds of various weights with a kettlle bell
15 – 2:00 minutes per round 4 total

At the end of those exercise I was just shy of burning 200 calories so I add some dance cardio with some jumping jacks included for 3 minutes or so bringing the total routine to 24 minutes burning a whopping 205 calories! Can you read the sarcasm in that statement?

July 3rd Morning Workout

Anyway this morning I replaced the 15 lb weights with 5 lb weights for 4 minutes. Then resistance bands for four minutes and a closing dance cardio with some kettle bell and jump rope. The routine totalled about 24 minutes and burned
about that same 200 plus calories. I don’t know precisely because I never stopped the Fitbit! So if you through in my shower and getting dressed the workout lasted 54 minutes and burned 314 calories.

I may be able to get a run in today, but with the hot weather I don’t know. Maybe an after dinner bike ride? That would be something a little different.

Ok so me today’s workout begins in earnest. Zoe is up! Just kidding! Watching Zoe is not a hard task and certainly doesn’t burn a lot of calories- now Oliver that’s a different story! After Zoe got up we spent some time cutting shapes.The featured image shows Zoe cutting the shapes by herself. She will turn three in September!

]]>A Very Strong Second Comeback Run Minus the Musichttps://www.theameliorationproject.site/2017/06/08/a-very-strong-second-comeback-run-minus-the-music/
Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:57:17 +0000https://www.theameliorationproject.site/?p=39562How could I not run on Global Runnig Day! Ok so last night was my second comeback run and my second run of the week. The last one was ok and there has been no major pain. just the...Read more

Ok so last night was my second comeback run and my second run of the week. The last one was ok and there has been no major pain. just the normal little soreness you can expect after not running for a while. I decided that I would run a route that is a little over 3 miles long. It is a loop run with only one small hill near the end of the run.

I had planned to use Selwyn Burchwood’s latest release Pick Your Poison as the soundtrack for the run. However I have been using my old iPhone On my runs because I still do not haven’t a case for my new iPhone. Anyway the old iPhone wouldn’t download any songs. Therefore I went old school and ran without music.

The Run

Once again I told myself to take it easy. The first block of the run, which I usually find the hardest , was a little of a struggle. But it was actually completed a little faster than my previous run.. After that point I was running a little easier, but I was shocked when I looked down at the first mile mark and saw that my time was 10:37!

I thought that’s pretty fast, so I better slow down. I thought I did, but as I kept looking at the time, my pace was hovering right around 10:40 minutes per mile. That was what the pace was when I reached the two mile mark and the three mile mark! And actuallly I was still running pretty comfortably. I was even comfortable enough to get a little sprint at the end. That sprint brought my average pace down to 10:37 for the run!

Hmm I was just thinking if. I better off running without music. That’s the way I ran for years and sometimes I think it helps me be more in tune with my body and my breathing. So maybe I’ll try it in my next few runs and see how it goes.

This Morning’s Workout

This morning I didn’t want to do a full 60 minute workout, but I still wanted to get in a good workout that would burn a few calories not just a yoga strecting workout. So I designed a modified 27 minute workout which combines a little tabata with my regular stuff
. It ended up being a 39 minute workout that burned 236 calories. But the most importantl thing is that my morning workout seems to get my body started in the morning.

Oh by the way i intent to write about Selwyn Birchwood‘a album in a bit so stay tuned. Now I want to go hear what Mr Comey has to say!

]]>A Great Trip to Cabbagetown with Delta Moonhttps://www.theameliorationproject.site/2017/06/07/great-trip-cabbagetown-delta-moon/
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 15:27:36 +0000https://www.theameliorationproject.site/?p=39554Cabbagetown Another Winner from Delta Moon In accordance with my plan to listen to more music, I put several Americana albums in the iPhone on Monday night. In addition listening to Americana this week Is consistent with my plans . I...Read more

In accordance with my plan to listen to more music, I put several Americana albums in the iPhone on Monday night. In addition listening to Americana this week Is consistent with my plans . I planned to explore Americana music ( folk, blues, bluegrass and alt-country) during the first week of each month. Anyway, I the Americana albums I picked include: two blues, two bluegrass albums and one folk album.

Yesterday, I listened to one of the blues albums Cabbagetown from Delta Moon . I first discovered the music of Delta Moon back in 2010 around the time of the release of their sixth album HellboundTrain. I loved their swamp blues right from the get-go. Cabbagetown is the band’s eleventh album. Eight of the alums are studio albums and three live albums.

About Delta Moon

The band originated in Inman Park in Atlanta , as a result of a chance meeting of Tom Grey and Mark Johnson in an Atlanta music store. Tom tried to sell Mark a dobro out if the back of his car. Mark didn’t by it but they exchanged numbers and soon were playing together around Atlanta. In 2003 they won the International Blues Challenge and the rest as they say is history.

The name Delta Moon come to Tom during a pilgrimage he made to the Clarkesdale Mississippi home of Muddy Waters. The current lineup for the band consists of Tom Gray on lead vocals and slide guitar, Mark Johnson on a second slide guitar, Franher Joseph on bass and Vic Stafford on drums.

About Cabbagetown

This spring Cabbagetown has risen as high as number eight on the Roots Music Report’s Blues Chart. In addition, four of the songs from the album have been on the Blues Song Chart.: “21st Century Man” at Number 6, “Rock and Roll Girl” at Number 7, “Just Lucky I Guess” at Number 10 and “Refugee” at Number 17.

All of the above mentioned tracks are among my favorites!

Bottom Line

Cabbagetown is definitely a four star album for me. That means I really, really liked it. The whole vibe of the album is great and the songs vary so that you’re never bored. Tom’s vocals coupled with his and Mark’s slide guitars just blend so well together. As usual when I reviewed the track list there are too many favourites to list them all. So just check out the album!

I really do think I need to go back and check out their 2015 release Low Down. Downbeat rated it one of the best albums of 2015!

]]>A Return to Running Music by Sean Chambershttps://www.theameliorationproject.site/2017/06/05/a-return-to-running-music-by-sean-chambers/
Tue, 06 Jun 2017 01:41:16 +0000https://www.theameliorationproject.site/?p=39546The Run – 30 Minutes – 2.75 Miles So I stuck to plans for a run this yesterday afternoon and took off on a run at around 5:15. Which I guess is actually this evening. My plan was to run...Read more

So I stuck to plans for a run this yesterday afternoon and took off on a run at around 5:15. Which I guess is actually this evening. My plan was to run for at least 30 minutes. I chose a course that I usually run when I am returning to running. It’s about 2.5 miles plus and takes around 30 some minutes.

Since it was my first run in over a month, I kept reminding myself as I was prepping for the run to take it easy! Anyway whether it’s old age or I just have learned over the years how to run slower, I was able to maintain a nice easy pace throughout the run.

Here are the mile splits: mile 1. 11:01, mile 2 11:17 the last .75 mile 11:19.I’ll take the last .75 mile being only 18 seconds per mile slower than the first mile any day.

The bottom line is that it was a successful start for a return to running. And so far my foot feels fine. The only thing that hurts tonight is my left shoulder, but that is from this morning’s tabata workout. I hate push-ups.

The Soundtrack: Trouble & Whiskey – Sean Chambers

The soundtrack for the run was Trouble & Whiskey, the latest release from Tampa based blues guitarist Sean Chambers. This album has been in my music rotation for several weeks now and is one of my favorites of 2017!

I first discovered the music of Sean Chambers in 2010 when I started blogging and exploring new music. He is the former lead guitarist for Blues great Hubert Sumlin. At that time, I explored his albums Humble Spirits and Ten Til Midnight. I enjoyed them both. More recently I listened to and enjoyed his album Live from the Long Island Blues Warehouse. And while I enjoyed all of the above albums I think that Trouble & Whiskey may be his best yet!

About Trouble & Whiskey

Both Costello’s vocals and guitar work are great on the album. Ben Elliott who has recorded classic artists such as Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Billy Gibbons and Leslie West among others produced the album

The Sean’s band consists of obviously Sean on lead vocals and lead guitar. The rest of the band includes: Michael Hensley on Hammond B3 & keyboards, Todd Cook on bass and Kris Schnebelen on drums.

Special guests include Jimmy Bennett on guitar on track #8, John Ginty on Hammond B3 on track #4, (one of my favorite tracks!) and Andrei Koribaniks on percussion on tracks #1 and #7.

Seven of the tracks on Trouble & Whiskey new original Sean Chambers compositions. The remaining three tracks are covers: “Bullfrog Blues” by Rory Gallagher,(again one of my favorites), ‘Cut Off My Right Arm” by Johnny Copeland and “Be Careful With A Fool” by B.B. King/Joe Bihari.

So check it out! As for me I think I’ll create a playlist and give a listen to some of those other albums I haven’t heard for a while !

]]>Five Ways to Get More Music in My Day!https://www.theameliorationproject.site/2017/06/03/five-ways-to-get-more-music-in-my-day/
Sun, 04 Jun 2017 02:14:28 +0000https://www.theameliorationproject.site/?p=39541Five Ways to Re-Ignite My Music Listening I love a variety of music and for several years I’ve blogged about the music I listen to. But lately that has not been the case. So the question of the day...Read more

I love a variety of music and for several years I’ve blogged about the music I listen to. But lately that has not been the case. So the question of the day is how can I get back to listening and writing about music? When I gave the question some thought, I came up with five ways to get re-ignite my music listening by getting more music into my daily life…..

1. Start Running Again

When I thought about it realized that I used to listen to a lot of music when I ran. Then after my runs, I would write about the run and the run’s musical soundtrack. So I think that one way to get back into listening to music is to start running three times a week again.

Hmm, one of the reasons that I stopped running about a month ago was that I had a funky pain in my left foot. That pain is gone so maybe this weekend I’ll go out for a run.

2. Make sure that Jazz is playing while I’m reading at night

Typically, I have jazz playing when I’m reading at night. Lately though I have not been doing that as much. so I think it’s time to start that habit again!

A while ago I had started a Daily Reading and Music Hour which would be an hour a day where I would be reading and listening to music. Typically, jazz , New Age or instrumental Prog Rock! Another potential habit to restart!

3. Start to Look at Jazz Birthdays at All About Jazz again!

Another way that I found new jazz was to review the birthdays of various jazz artists listed at All About Jazz on a daily basis. As I looked at the birthday I would look for artist who play instruments that I like such as the vibraphone, or Hammond B3. If I saw someone who I was unfamiliar with I would go and search out and listen to their music. Many time I would look for artist who were born in the 1980s, 90s and 2000s As a result, I would often listen and read about both classic and current jazz artists. This must start again.

I used to listen to music 24/7 in the car, in stores, and around the house. In 2017 that has not been the case. So I think it is time to pick a genre and load up the iPhone with new releases from the genre and see which ones I like!

5. Meditate More

Ok so when I run, I listen to music. I also like to listen to music when I meditate There are many New Age artists whose music is great for meditating. Examples include Deuter, Michael Brant DeMaria, Dean Evanson and a boatload more. So more meditation = more music.

Then Comes the Organizing and Blogging…..

Okay so now I have methods to listen to more music. But next, I need to focus on how to relate that to writing blog posts. I used to blog on specific days about specific genres for example there was Folk Monday, Twang Tuesday and Blues Wednesday. That was good but now I’m thinking about assigning a different genre for each WEEK of the month. So maybe the first week of the month will be Americana (folk, blues, bluegrass, Alt-Country, etc), The second week Jazz and so on.

Since we are at the beginning of the month, I guess it’s a good time to start the above schedule. So I declare the first week in the month Americana Week. So this week I will concentrate on listen to new Folk, Blues, Bluegrass and Roots Music. We’ll see what happens. Stay tuned and Wish Me Luck!!

]]>AM Workout: Tabata with Meditation Music From Nathan Speirhttps://www.theameliorationproject.site/2017/06/03/workout-tabata-meditation-music-nathan-speir/
Sat, 03 Jun 2017 19:00:24 +0000https://www.theameliorationproject.site/?p=39536A Tabata Workout Followed by the peaceful music of Nathan Speir This morning I really did not feel like doing a full 60 minute workout. I seriously considered only doing a light yoga workout. But the. I thought maybe a...Read more

This morning I really did not feel like doing a full 60 minute workout. I seriously considered only doing a light yoga workout. But the. I thought maybe a short 20 minute Tabata workout. So I created one on the workout app that I use. It consisted of 8 – 20 second intervals followed by 10 second rest of the following

Jumping jacks

Squat thrusts

Sit ups

Mountain climbers

Push-ups/ squats 5 push outs 3 squats

Of course I counted how many of the exercises I did in each interval. If you had told me T the beginning of the exercise I would be doing

200 jumping jacks

64 sit-ups

64 squat thrusts

240 mountain climbers and

40 push ups

I would have said you were nuts! But that’s what I did. And although the workout only burnt. Calories according to my Fitbit I think it was pretty damn good workout!

I followed it with a 10 minute meditation and 5 minute savasana
( had to sneak in a little yoga!)

Today’s Meditation Soundtrack: Part of a Kindly Plan – Nathan Speir

The soundtrack for the meditation was a New Age album that’s been in my music rotation for a while now but I haven’t written about it yet. Big surprise I haven’t been doing a lot of writing about anything recently. So in an effort to break out of that rut,let me tell you about Nathan Speir and his album Part of a Kindly Plan.

Nathan Speir is a pianist, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in southern California but was raised in Florida and Connecticut. Currently he calls Winston-Salem North Carolina home. Part of a Kindly Planis Speir’s eight studio release. His music style is eclectic and varied. He cites among his influences the music of George Winston, Keith Jarrret, Pat Metheny, Steve Roach, Harold Budd, R Carlos Nakai, Chopin and Erik Satie. His is inspired by his family, poetry, fine art, space and astronomy, the study of religion and nature.

From his Website Biography…

“I have a perpetual need to create,” explains Speir, “and making music teaches me many lessons in life. I hope that my creations enhance the ambience in the listener’s life, and in doing so, the listener holistically benefits. This kind of music lends itself to solace, relaxing, thinking and reflecting on life. Studying your inner life and identifying your personal beliefs is serious business, but I believe that serious things can bring great joy. I want the music to feel like taking a pastoral retreat, or going to space and then returning to earth, but afterwards feeling more at one with things. I feel strongly that each person needs to contribute in some way to our world. With my music I try to do my small part.” Read More

In addition Speir states: “…. silence has a big part in my music and I pay a lot of attention to the space between the notes”

Some of the inspiration for Part of a Kindly Plan comes from the Thomas Hardy poem. “On a Fine Spring Morning” . The poem was written in the early 1900s and Speir has included it on the back of the album cover. Speir explains…

“At the beginning the poem asks a question: What is solace? Hardy says it is not this or exactly that, but at the end he is happy and content because he says everything is part of a benign or kindly plan that is proof that earth was made for man. I liked the sentiments expressed so I paraphrased the various lines for the name of the album and several tune titles”

You can read more about the various tunes also in his biography at his website. Here is the link.

Thoughts About Part of a Kindly Plan…...

I find Part of a Kindly Plan to be a nice quiet and relaxing album. It is a nice album to use for meditation, not a perfect meditation album but damn close. One of the tracks that I’ve heard the most and have really enjoyed is track two “As We Turn” The track features an acoustic-steel string guitar blended with piano, rainstick shaker some sampled tympani and synth strings. Speir says the following about the track:

“There are lots of turns in life, and as we grow older our perspective of life changes.”

As I was driving to Walmart this morning listening to the album, I thought about what Speir had written about the use of space between the notes in his compositions. I really noticed that in practice on the tune ‘Praxis” The song mixes nylon-string guitar and Native American flute with a rhythmic drum-sound created by Speir hitting the cello fretbound with his open hand. “The idea behind this piece”, relates Speir is that everyone should choose a discipline of some sort, seriously practice it, persevere, improve and also enjoy the journey.”

Anyway the album is, like Speir says a beautiful and varied collection of acoustic music and is well worth checking out. I think that it will be in my New Age rotation for quiet a while!! And it’s not just me who likes this album. The album was number 8 on the MusicZoneReporter.com Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart for April